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Set up

Quick Introduction

Although KitKat has been out for quite a while, it still seems to have a bit of a problem setting up Hotmail accounts; a problem which has been with Android since the release of Ice Cream Sandwich. I’m sure most of you got your shiny new devices and were disappointed that your device couldn’t even set up the most simple of things: email. You probably faced a “can’t connect to server” error and after meticulously double-checking your email address and password fields, as well as various settings, eventually gave up. Apparently, Microsoft has decided to change its Hotmail servers and this gives Android a problem when trying to connect to the server.

And yes, I am 100% certain that there will be some of you who will whine about how Hotmail is old/stupid and that Gmail is the best thing since sliced bread and that you’re such a better person than the people who use Hotmail and blah blah blah etc. If that’s the case, congratulations; you don’t use Hotmail. Good for you. I’m not entirely sure why you felt compelled to click on an article titled “How To Set Up Hotmail On Android” if you don’t even use Hotmail but oh, well. More views for me, I guess.

Anyways, after doing some extremely difficult and very thorough research (read: Googling), I found a way to set up Hotmail on any Android device running Android 4.0 or higher. It might work for you guys running Gingerbread (my condolences, by the way) but I haven’t actually tested it so I don’t know.

I got it working with Ice Cream Sandwich when I first got my trusty Galaxy Nexus and I try my best to regularly update the article to ensure the methods below will work with each release of Android. The device I’m using right now is a Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.4.2 but the process should be the same for any version of Android, be it on a tablet or a phone (I also tested this on a Motorola Xoom, HTC Sensation, HTC One, and Asus Transformer Prime, each running various versions of Android).

Alternatively, you could use the default Outlook app but we all know that it’s just plain awful. Before we begin, I’d like to point out that as far as I can tell, this only works for @hotmail.com or @hotmail.co.uk accounts. The steps are exactly the same for both accounts so don’t type in “debug-m.hotmail.co.uk” or something like that if you’ve got a @hotmail.co.uk account (it should be “debug-m.hotmail.com” etc.)

Download The Latest Email App

To make things a bit easier for you, I’ve got the download links for both the Email app and the relevant Exchange Services for Android 4.4.

Downloading them is in no way necessary (my method should work with every version of the app and anyway, it should already be pre-installed in your phone) but if you’d like to use the exact version I’m using, feel free to download it below. A big thank you to Android Police for the download links 🙂

How To Set It All Up

2) You should see the screen below. Type in your email address and password. Tap Next. If all goes well, you should end up at Step 7 (Skip Steps 3 – 6).

* If you encounter an error, repeat Steps 1 and 2 (DON’T press Next). Move on to Step 3.*

3) Once you’ve typed in your details, tap on “Manual Setup”.

4) Select “Exchange” from the list of options.

5) Fill out the fields as indicated below:

Domain\Username: delete the “\” and type in your full email address

Password: type in your Hotmail password

Server: type in “debug-m.hotmail.com”.

If that doesn’t work, repeat Steps 1 – 4 and use “m.hotmail.com”

If that doesn’t work either, repeat Steps 1 – 4 and use “blu-m.hot mail.com”

Make sure the Security Type is “SSL/TLS”

6) Tap on “Next”.

7) Choose whatever options you want (how frequently it should check for email, how much it should sync etc.). Tap on “Next”.

8) A little loading icon may appear as it syncs your email account.

9) Congratulations! Your email is all set up and you can now set a name for the mailbox.

Your account should be completely set up by now. It should be syncing your email as you read this very sentence. Once again, this setup has only been tested on @hotmail.com and @hotmail.co.uk accounts.

If you’re still having trouble Hotmail, let me know in the comments below and I’ll try my best to help you out.